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Among calls from baristas for customers to pick up Frappuccinos and lattes, a couple told a tale of how guide dogs changed their lives.

At the Starbucks at Interstate 10 and DeZavala Road, “Will you still love me tomorrow?” played as Egypt, a yellow Labrador, lay beside Natalie and Darrell Garza as they talked about meeting four years ago in Alice.

She thought he was odd. He was wearing sunglasses at her roommate's birthday party, and his hand was draped over a woman's shoulder. She learned he was blind and the woman was his sister. He had lost his sight because of a degenerative condition that began in childhood.

Intrigued, she dropped hints that she liked him, but he didn't pick up the clues. She gave him her cell number. A month later, they were dating.

During their courtship, they started reviewing service animal organizations for Darrell Garza as he prepared to transfer from a community college in Alice to the University of Texas at San Antonio. When she read about San Antonio-based Guide Dogs of Texas, she felt compelled to volunteer with the nonprofit as a puppy raiser.

Now Natalie Garza, 24, is in a four-year apprenticeship as a mobility instructor with the nonprofit organization, which offers trained guide dogs to visually impaired Texans.

It's the only guide dog school in Texas and one of nine accredited schools in the nation. It trains and matches dogs with clients ages 17 and older during a three- to four-week period.

She's training her first team of dogs, Alice, Mitch and Molly, to work with clients in the fall.

“There's a lot of problem solving,” she said. “They're all different, trying to figure out what works with one that doesn't work with another.”

She worked her way up to a position as a kennel manager in 2011 after graduating from the UTSA with a major in kinesiology.

Organization president Larry Tuttle said instructors need a deep commitment to work with dogs and adults with a visual impairment.

“When people go through the training, they need to have that internal drive of having passion to change people's lives,” Tuttle said. “Natalie is a great person who will make a wonderful guide dog mobility instructor.”

Three years ago, her focus was on helping Darrell Garza, 23, then her fiancée, become more independent. At the time, he wasn't thrilled about the idea of a guide dog and reluctantly used a white cane. “She helped me grow a lot,” he said. “When I went blind, I didn't want the label of being blind, like using my cane.”

He was accepted by Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, Calif. In May 2009, he traveled with his mother to the school for a 28-day training period. He was skeptical until Egypt licked his hand and sat between his legs.